Caron Lindsay

Lib Dem peer Avebury on working in your 80s

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th February 2013 - 1:28 pm

Yesterday’s Guardian carries a feature on three people who have worked way beyond the age when they can collect their State Pension.

One of those is Liberal Democrat Peer Eric Avebury, who has written several articles for Liberal Democrat Voice.

At 84, he’s still attending the House of Lords 4 days a week.

He talks of the driving force that keeps him going:

As I have got older I have become more and more keen on the idea of equality. The evidence shows that most of the ills of society – such as crime, mental illness and so on – are deeply correlated

…

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George Lyon MEP

George Lyon MEP writes: Lib Dem MEPs will resist secret EU vote

By George Lyon MEP | Wed 13th February 2013 - 11:56 am

Last week the European Council agreed a new European budget that will, for the first time, see a cut in the amount of money that the EU spends.

Liberal Democrats at Westminster and in the European Parliament have made clear that the EU needs to live within its means. We are in favour of a sensible and realistic deal that reflects the tough economic times that ordinary people are facing. Some MEPs see things differently and oppose the idea of a degree of fiscal restraint in Europe.

People who oppose the cuts in the EU budget that have been put forward are …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged , and | 13 Comments
Matthew Green

Opinion: Our NHS – the good, the bad and the ugly

By Matthew Green | Wed 13th February 2013 - 10:37 am

nhs sign lrgIt is a week since Robert Francis’s report on the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust exposed massive failures in the NHS, from top to bottom.

The silence from the political left is deafening. Of course there has been the usual horror and condemnation, and calls for heads to roll. But this wasn’t just a case of lax professional standards, which can be sorted out with a bit of culture training, it was complete system failure from cleaner up to Prime Minister.

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Helen Duffett

Mike Thornton in favour of equal marriage

By Helen Duffett | Wed 13th February 2013 - 9:51 am

Lib Dem candidate for Eastleigh Mike Thornton responded yesterday to the question of whether he supports equal marriage.

@Beauchamp74 asked Mike, and the Tory and UKIP candidates, for their position:

Mike replied in favour, which gets @Beauchamp74’s vote:

Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , and | 5 Comments
Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 13th February 2013 - 8:55 am

Every week, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition. 

Fisheries vote

Last week was crunch time in the European Parliament as MEPs voted in favour of ambitious proposals to reform the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). There has been much concern among local fishermen in Berwickshire about the reform of the CFP because the current system has damaged many local businesses. The measures passed last week are certainly a welcome step in the right direction because they will help end the terrible practice of discards and …

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Stephen Tall

Eastleigh by-election: your essential round-up of the latest campaign news (12 Feb)

By Stephen Tall | Tue 12th February 2013 - 8:20 pm

Here’s a round-up of news from the past 24 hours in the Eastleigh by-election…

mike thornton eastleigh jon aylwinNick Clegg offered Lib Dem candidate Mike Thornton his full backing on a visit to Eastleigh on Monday. Here‘s the Guardian report:

“I am confident we will keep hold of this seat but not because I say so but because the people of Eastleigh are telling us that,” said Clegg. Focusing on the party’s local dominance – it is the only place in the country where every councillor at district and county level is a Liberal Democrat – he said voters would focus on its “record of action” and said the party had “to be quite clear where our differences lie”. … Speaking after meeting students at the local college, Clegg said: “Cutting council tax, promoting more apprenticeships, creating jobs, protecting green spaces – those are things that Liberal Democrats haven’t just talked about, they are things they have actually done and it’s a record of which we are tremendously proud.”

It’s not just Nick Clegg who’s been doing his Eastleigh stint, though. Pictured above (with thanks to Jon Aylwin) is North Devon MP Nick Harvey out canvassing with Mike and some of his supporters.

Want to join the hundreds of Lib Dems who are doing their bit to help get Mike elected as the next Lib Dem MP for Eastleigh on 28th February? Here’s a reminder of how YOU can make a difference:

  • Volunteer to help in Eastleigh itself
  • Make phone calls for the party if you can’t get there in person
  • Give a donation to help fund the campaign.

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    Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
    Mary Reid

    Nigel Farage’s disappearing fish act

    By Mary Reid | Tue 12th February 2013 - 4:55 pm

    nigel farageLast week I drew attention to the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, which amongst other improvements ends the practice of discards. Chris Davies MEP has been a leading advocate for reform, and had garnered cross-party support.

    Even Nigel Farage had said:

    First let me stress that the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been a complete environmental, economic and social disaster and UKIP uses what say it has in the EU “Parliament” to vote against discards and protect British fishing.

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    Simon McGrath

    Opinion: Liberal Reform urge MEPs to oppose a secret vote on the EU Budget

    By Simon McGrath | Tue 12th February 2013 - 3:50 pm

    European Parliament chamber, StrasbourgIt probably came as a  surprise to most Lib Dems to hear  that it is possible to have a secret vote in the European Parliament at all, let alone when as few as 20% of MEPs call for one. Press reports that some members want a secret vote so they can safely vote against the EU Budget are shocking, because knowing how elected representatives vote is surely the most basic piece of information required to hold them accountable.

    If the EU Budget is rejected, after a secret vote, there is not the slightest doubt that it will be seized upon by those in the UK who want us to leave to leave the EU.  Not only should our own MEPs, but also ALDE as a whole, should be opposed to a secret vote in this case, and they should act to change the Parliament’s rules to make secret votes impossible.

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    Don Foster MP

    Don Foster MP writes… Report back on planning changes

    By Don Foster MP | Tue 12th February 2013 - 2:23 pm

    Terraced housingI thought it was about time that I report back on the work I’ve been doing on planning since we debated it at Conference in September last year.

    I’m pleased to be able to say that we’ve made some real progress. Particularly on the Section 106 ‘holiday’ announcement made in the September 6 growth and housing announcement, I’ve been able to deliver everything my local government colleagues asked:

    Firstly, where a developer wants to renegotiate the affordable housing element of a Section 106 agreement to unblock a development, we wanted to make sure that there’s an objective test in place to check whether it’s necessary.

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 22 Comments
    Nick Clegg MP

    Nick Clegg writes … A fairer and more prosperous world

    By Nick Clegg MP | Tue 12th February 2013 - 1:00 pm

    Lynne Featherstone in Zambia. Photo: some rights reserved by DFID http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/8220719712/Lynne Featherstone and I are travelling to Mozambique and Ethiopia this week, which will be my first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as Deputy Prime Minister. We will see the changing nature of our relationship with these African countries, as well as the UK’s international development programmes in action.

    By working with Mozambique, Ethiopia and other developing countries, we are helping to create a world that is fairer, more prosperous and more secure.

    This year the Coalition Government will meet our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on international development – an achievement that comes with much controversy but one I am proud to deliver.

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    Mary Reid

    LibLink: Vince Cable – Investors deserve red carpet, not red tape

    By Mary Reid | Tue 12th February 2013 - 10:56 am

    Vince Cable - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsIn the Telegraph, Vince Cable writes:

    Britain is open for business. What we say to the emerging economies of the world is that, more than other Western countries, we welcome their investment, ideas, talent and visitors. We are not economic nationalists. We are not inward looking. That is a powerful message in São Paulo, Moscow, Mumbai and Shanghai.

    In the article he concentrates on our trading relationship with China.

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
    Neil Fawcett

    Excellent Abingdon Action Day

    By Neil Fawcett | Tue 12th February 2013 - 9:04 am

    Abingdon South Action DayThere was a fantastic turnout for our Fairer Taxes Action Day in Abingdon South on Saturday, reflecting the success of the day nationwide.

    Led by our new Parliamentary Candidate Layla Moran, we did a mix of surveying, collecting petition signatures, delivering target mailings and distributing flyers about a key local development issue.

    As well as local members and councillors we were delighted to welcome helpers from as far away as Reading, Milton Keynes and Wallingford.

    The reception on the doorstep was very positive.  Quite a few people already knew about how …

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    Stephen Tall

    Three things we’ve learned from today’s opinion polls

    By Stephen Tall | Mon 11th February 2013 - 7:50 pm

    Three interesting and important poll findings to report today…

    Big lead for Labour according to ICM

    polling station - Some rights reserved by Simon Clayson
    First, the Guardian’s monthly ICM poll is out, showing the biggest Labour lead in almost a decade:

      Labour 41% (+3%)
      Conservatives 29% (-4%)
      Lib Dems 13% (-2%)
      Ukip 9% (+3%)
      Others 8% (+1%)

    The movements are more or less within the margin of error. Still, the Tories will be pretty disappointed to see the party get no bounce at all from David Cameron’s promise of a post-2015 EU referendum. Perhaps unsurprisingly it …

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    Posted in Op-eds, Parliamentary by-elections and Polls | Tagged , , , and | 131 Comments
    Norman Lamb MP

    Norman Lamb MP writes… Ending unlimited care costs: an historic step

    By Norman Lamb MP | Mon 11th February 2013 - 5:53 pm

    This Coalition is at its best when it is tackling the country’s long-term structural problems. That, after all, is why we came together with the Conservatives to form a Coalition Government and deal with the record deficit that we inherited from the last Labour government. Nowhere is this more evident than in today’s historic announcement to protect people, for the first time ever, from the threat of unlimited care costs. That is why I have been pushing relentlessly for this reform since my first day in the job in September.

    For anyone doubting whether this is a truly “historic” announcement, …

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    NewsHound

    Jeremy Hunt announces Social Care reform

    By NewsHound | Mon 11th February 2013 - 5:09 pm

    Jeremey Hunt has just announced the heavily pre-trailed social care reforms in the Commons. Here is Andrew Sparrow’s digest of his speech from the Guardian’s Live Blog:

    Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, says none of us know what care needs we will face when we get older.

    Many older people face paying “limitless, often ruinous” care costs.

    The current system is “desperately unfair”. More than 30,000 people a year have their savings wiped out.

    This discourages people from saving, he says.

    Today he is announcing the government’s proposals.

    A cap will be introduced for the maximum amount that an individual might have to pay, and

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged | 2 Comments
    Paul Walter

    LibLink: George Lyon MEP – EU budget cuts must not sacrifice research and investment

    By Paul Walter | Mon 11th February 2013 - 2:53 pm

    Writing on Huffington Post, George Lyon, MEP for Scotland, outlines concerns that the forthcoming round of EU budget reviews does not risk future growth prospects:

    The EU Parliament will be scrutinising the proposals closely in the coming weeks before deciding whether to accept or reject the deal in the beginning of March. We must be clear – there are areas of spending that help us generate growth and these need to be our priority going forwards.

    One major concern is the proposed funding for the Connecting Europe Facility. This new instrument is set to invest in modern infrastructure such

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 4 Comments
    Paul Walter

    LibLink: Adrian Trett – Why do Europe and LGBT equality measures cause such splits in mainstream parties?

    By Paul Walter | Mon 11th February 2013 - 1:23 pm

    Writing for PinkNews, as Chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats and Vice-Chair of the Liberal Democrats European Group, Adrian Trett says there are political similarities when it comes to arguing the case for equality and the European Union:

    If you have the fundamental freedom to travel and work, live and reside in the place of your choice, then so does everyone else whatever nationality. Just because we may have an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians next January, no Europhobe can turn round and say, sorry you can’t come here, because we belong to a market with free movement of

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 15 Comments
    Mark Pack

    The real political battle isn’t Conservative vs Labour or Cameron vs Miliband

    By Mark Pack | Mon 11th February 2013 - 11:53 am

    Diversion sign - photo courtesy of Michael Casey on Flickr. Some rights reserved, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcasey/2959557643/Skim the political news – or brace yourself and watch some of festival of braying adults that is PMQs – and you could easily think that British politics is primarily a contest between Cameron and Miliband, Conservative and Labour, to be top dog. You could – and you would be wrong. It’s a diversion from where the real action is.

    The real political contest is both elsewhere and not one single contest. It is not about Conservative versus Labour, except by incidental outcome.

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 13 Comments
    The Voice

    Social care reforms – open thread

    By The Voice | Mon 11th February 2013 - 10:51 am

    Jeremy Hunt is due to confirm the pre-announced details of Social Care reform later today.

    The BBC summarises what’s known about the proposals here:

    The government is due to announce its “fully-funded solution” to the problem of elderly people in England who cannot afford social care.

    It is expected to include a £75,000 cap on the costs people pay for care and a rise in the threshold for means-tested support from £23,250 to £123,000.

    Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the “scandal” of many people selling homes to pay care bills must be tackled.

    Do these proposals go far enough?

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    Posted in News | Tagged | 4 Comments
    Paul Walter

    EXCLUSIVE: Lib Dem Voice supplies secret weapon to Eastleigh campaign

    By Paul Walter | Mon 11th February 2013 - 9:53 am

    Eastleigh HQ

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    Posted in Humour and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged | 1 Comment
    Stephen Tall

    Eastleigh by-election: your essential round-up of all the weekend’s news

    By Stephen Tall | Mon 11th February 2013 - 9:15 am

    A quick round-up of all things Eastleigh — especially for the benefit of those who’ve been in Eastleigh this weekend and as a result have missed out…

    Lib Dem candidate selected: congrats Mike Thornton!

    First, and most important, the Lib Dems have a candidate: Mike Thornton was selected by the Eastleigh local party on Saturday evening.

    You can read about him and his policy priorities here.

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    Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , and | Leave a comment
    Mark Pack

    Maria Hutchings, Eastleigh Conservative candidate, plays hide and seek with the media

    By Mark Pack | Mon 11th February 2013 - 8:50 am

    Norman LamontOne of my favourite moments from the 1997 general election campaign came when I was stood on a street corner in Harrogate, talking to a report about the challenge from Lib Dem candidate Phil Willis, who was trying to take the seat from the Conservatives. Suddenly, the journalist looked over my shoulder, muttered ‘excuse me’ and ran off down the street, partially dignified, chasing a van that had driven past behind me.

    The reason? The van was that of the Conservative candidate, Norman Lamont, who had been spending the whole campaign trying to avoid talking to the press. The result? Much of the press coverage was dominated by stories of journalists trying to track him down around the constituency.

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    Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
    Libby Local

    Libby Local, Episode 10: “Stalled!”

    By Libby Local | Sun 10th February 2013 - 2:15 pm

    The day after a crazed man confronted me in Demsbury, Mark, the local community support officer came to see me. I had met him at a number of police and community meetings and we get on well.

    Mark told me quite a bit about the man who confronted me. Whenever trouble erupted in Demsbury, it was like as not that this man was at the heart of it. Yet, because he mostly engaged in petty crimes and antisocial behaviour, they could do little to control him.

    It was all rather depressing. Mark was very thorough, giving me advice on …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 5 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “If you want fairer taxes, there’s only one party for you: the Lib Dems.”

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th February 2013 - 12:00 pm

    No prizes for guessing which subject dominates this week’s letter from Nick Clegg to party supporters: the forthcoming Eastleigh by-election. Nick reflects on his own experiences campaigning in by-elections of yore – “exhilarating, exhausting and exciting in equal measure” – and urges all party activists to help in whatever way we can in the next three weeks. A major feature of the campaign in Eastleigh and across the country will be the Lib Dems’ push for Fairer Taxes, and it’s great to see Nick’s message including web-links to enable readers to take action for themselves on this key message. Here’s …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 20 Comments
    The Liberator Collective

    New edition of the Liberator magazine

    By The Liberator Collective | Sun 10th February 2013 - 11:22 am

    The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.357 – February 2013) was delivered to subscribers last week.

    Here’s a summary of the new magazine’s contents:

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 4 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Your essential weekend reader — my personal pick of the week’s must-reads

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th February 2013 - 10:50 am

    It’s Sunday morning, so here are 12 thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking juices culled from all those I’ve linked to this last week. You can follow me on Delicious here.

    In Search of Monsters – Stephen W. Smith looks at the background to France’s military intervention in Mali: ‘One could even say that they will provide the Saharan Taliban with the very thing they were thirsting for: an expeditionary force of infidels on home turf.’

    Trident is no longer key to Britain’s security …

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    Posted in News | Tagged and | 2 Comments
    Karen Wilkinson

    Opinion: Aspiration exasperation

    By Karen Wilkinson | Sat 9th February 2013 - 9:22 pm

    inspiration - Some rights reserved by h.koppdelaneyI love Friday nights. They keep me grounded and motivated simultaneously, they’re the week’s reset button. The fact they usually involve the pub and a reasonable amount of alcohol is completely coincidental.

    I’ve been um-ming and ah-ing for ages over an article for LibDem Voice along the lines of “Aspiration Exasperation”. Politicians talk about aspiration easily enough but it bothers me. Aspiration for what? What I take from it – and I would be delighted to hear I’m wrong on this – is that they mean aspiration …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 9 Comments
    Helen Duffett

    Mike Thornton selected for Lib Dems in Eastleigh

    By Helen Duffett | Sat 9th February 2013 - 6:54 pm

    .@dannyalexander congratulates @Mike4Eastleigh on his selection by local Lib Dems tonight
    Photo by Helen Duffett on Flickr.

    Eastleigh Liberal Democrats have selected a local Business and Development Manager as their candidate for the upcoming Parliamentary by-election in the constituency.

    Mike Thornton, a parish and borough councillor since 2007, plays an active part in the community. He is involved with the annual Bishopstoke Carnival and is a member of the local church.

    Mike lives with his wife and daughter in Bishopstoke and …

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    Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , and | 39 Comments
    Joe Otten

    Opinion: Talking at cross purposes about equal marriage

    By Joe Otten | Sat 9th February 2013 - 4:33 pm

    While it is tempting to be triumphal at success of the vote on equal marriage, I have some sympathy for some of the opponents. Not for the bigots of course – but while all bigots will oppose equal marriage, the converse isn’t true, and some opponents are genuinely unhappy at the idea of parliamentary vote to, as they see it, change the meaning of a word.

    Now that may seem to many of us an odd thing to get upset about – although I would be quite unhappy if Parliament attempted to change the value of …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 145 Comments
    Sam Lawes

    An apology to Dr Vince Cable

    By Sam Lawes | Sat 9th February 2013 - 12:45 pm

    In what will likely be my last political outing for a while, I got the train to Cheltenham recently for a talk by the Business Secretary, Dr. Vince Cable. It was hosted by Cheltenham Ladies’ College, organised by the impressive local Liberal Youth branch and attended by some exceedingly bright young students.

    As expected, the Business Secretary spoke with the lucidity, insight and maturity which characterises his style of politics. He detailed the origins and consequences of the 2008 financial ‘heart attack’ – in terms even I could understand – to a packed room …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , and | 6 Comments
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